Here's info on the Gates donation. The non-profit sector has been quite critical over the lack of generosity of Bill Gates, and this appears to be a substantial step in the right direction.

Gates and Wife Give $3.3 Billion to Their 2 Foundations

By KATIE HAFNER

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have given $3.3 billion to their two foundations, the president of one of the foundations said Friday.

The gifts bring the total assets of both foundations to nearly $5.5 billion, putting the William H. Gates Foundation in the top 10 foundations in the United States in assets, and the Gates Learning Foundation in the top 30, said Sara Engelhardt, president of the Foundation Center, a nonprofit organization that tracks foundations.

Ms. Engelhardt said that with the donations, Gates, 43, has given away more money than any other living American philanthropist.

In 1998, the two Gates foundations gave away more than $150 million, she said.

The William H. Gates Foundation, which received $2.2 billion, focuses on world health and population issues and traditional grant making to universities and dozens of other organizations. Grant recipients have included Duke University, of which Ms. Gates, 34, is an alumna; the Seattle Public Library, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

The Gates Learning Foundation received $1.1 billion and its name was changed from the Gates Library Foundation. It will use the additional money to broaden its scope, which had been bringing computers to public libraries in low income areas, to education and take its mission overseas.

"Our primary focus will be libraries, but we also plan to look at new and other areas to support," said Patty Stonesifer, president and chairman of the foundation.

"No one else among the top 10 foundations has a living donor, and very few in the top 50," Ms. Engelhardt said "It's very unusual for a living philanthropist to have assets of that size go into a foundation. Not since the time of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller in the early part of this century has that happened."

Ms. Engelhardt said that other living philanthropists who have put their money into foundations include Walter Annenberg and William and Flora Hewlett. The Annenberg Foundation has assets of about $3.35 billion. The Hewlett Foundation's endowment is $1.9 billion. Ms. Engelhardt said her ranking of foundations came from data from the 1996 and 1997 fiscal years.

Gates is the wealthiest person in the world. He owns 515 million shares of Microsoft, a company spokesman said, so his personal fortune varies with the stock price. Friday it would have been more than $80 billion.

The donation brings the endowment of the William H. Gates Foundation, which is run by Gates' father, William H. Gates Sr., to more than $4 billion. The Gates Learning Foundation's endowment is about $1.3 billion with the new gift.

The gifts were made on Jan. 29, said Ms. Stonesifer, in the form of about 20 million shares of Microsoft stock, which closed at $171 per share that day. She did not disclose whether the shares had been converted to cash. The senior Gates was not available for comment.

The gifts were not announced, and neither Bill nor Melinda Gates was available for comment.

This contrasts with the couple's announcement last December that the William H. Gates Foundation would donate $100 million to a nonprofit health organization in Seattle to find better ways to distribute vaccines to children in developing countries. At the time, Gates was criticized for publicizing a charitable gift when his company was fighting government antitrust charges in U.S. District Court in Washington.

Ms. Stonesifer said the recent gifts had nothing to do with the continuing antitrust trial and that the quiet manner in which the gift was made was in keeping with the Gates' long-term plans. Except for a small part that he said he would reserve for his family, Gates has on several occasions promised eventually to give away nearly all of his wealth before he dies.

The William H. Gates Foundation has gradually increased its endowment, which began with about $106 million when the foundation was founded in 1994. Since the Learning Foundation was started in 1997, its endowment has remained steady at about $250 million. In recent years, particularly as the value of Microsoft stock has soared, Gates has been criticized for not being more generous with his personal wealth.To those in philanthropy circles, the latest Gates gift signaled a tide change. "With one stunning gesture, Bill Gates has moved from the realm of boy genius to real mensch," said Harry Saal, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and a philanthropist.

"This is frankly what we've been hoping to see," said Dorothy Ridings, president of the Council on Foundations, an organization for foundations and corporate giving programs, in Washington, D.C.

I think $3+B to charity is a good thing. Of course my assumption is that the trust funds he gave them to are well managed and do "socially responsible" things with the money.

"Socially responsible," meaning "things I approve of?"

Piz

Haven't we already determined that this is pretty much what qualifies as "socially responsible"? Everyone has their own indicators.

Besides, if we go back to the root words- i interpret socially responsible as something which benefits society as a whole. i'd even dare suggest that studies have been done which conclude that more money invested in education and healthcare results in a healthier, more productive and active population and economy over all- but i can't cite any specifically. do you think it's better to just sit on your assets when you have that much? that amount is just unfathomable- why keep it out of circulation?

Haven't we already determined that this is pretty much what qualifies as "socially responsible"? Everyone has their own indicators.

Besides, if we go back to the root words- i interpret socially responsible as something which benefits society as a whole. i'd even dare suggest that studies have been done which conclude that more money invested in education and healthcare results in a healthier, more productive and active population and economy over all- but i can't cite any specifically. do you think it's better to just sit on your assets when you have that much? that amount is just unfathomable- why keep it out of circulation?

Although I share your skepticism about the meaning of "socially responsible", I find it odd that you, champion of the libertarian ideal, defender of the right of every person to do just as they wish, opponent of the "extortion" of taxes and proponent of the value of individually directed sharing of the fruits of individual effort and ability, would express a negative opinion about Mr. Gates's generosity.

And to think that over on NADA you objected to my application to you of a generality regarding the selfishness of the libertarian "philosophy". Apparently it can truly be said of you, "By his own words ye shall know him." Your "philosophy" has to do only with getting more for yourself.